8 minute read
Darnell SuperChef Ferguson
from inSpire May 2022
DARNELL SUPERCHEF
FERGUSON
WRITTEN BY DAWN ANDERSON | PHOTO BY T.A. YERO, 2 HEARTS MEDIA
This spring, Darnell SuperChef Ferguson is on the cusp of making his wildest dreams come true. Already Chef/Owner of multiple restaurants and a successful contender and respected judge on several Food Network competition shows, Ferguson feels accomplished but by no means satisfied. While developing and building on SuperChef Brands LLC, he has been busy with various national television appearances and reaching back to encourage up-and-coming young Black chefs and entrepreneurs. Darnell Ferguson grew up in neighborhoods of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Columbus, Ohio, which he describes as a harsh environment. “Mom made sure we didn’t lack anything. And I had a great stepdad and a great childhood. But sports and being an athlete was the only dream for kids coming out of those places.” Ferguson struggled in school and faced the fact early on that professional sports would not be his path. “I spent a lot of time at my cousin’s house, where we made breakfast and got creative with weird food combinations. I wasn’t aware of what a chef was, so I couldn’t see it as an option.”
Watching Emeril Lagasse on Food Network, Ferguson admired his chef’s whites, as he did most uniforms. “If I wasn’t a chef, I’d be a Navy Seal because I like structure. That’s probably why the French brigade system (in restaurant hierarchy) appealed to me so much. When you come from a chaotic environment, structure is attractive.” But when the Navy recruiter at
Photo by Danny Alexander
his high school mentioned Ferguson’s braids being cut off, that was the end of the Navy Seal aspirations.
Ferguson found his way to vocational school and got a tutor who sparked his educational success. “I made the honor roll from then on. We are still in touch, and they are a pivotal person in my life,” as is his vocational school teacher who administered his first knife skills test. Ferguson received a 100% perfect score. “Until junior year in high school, no one besides my mom had told me I was special or could do great things. My heart really desired that. When she (his vocational school teacher) told me that, I ran with it. ‘I’m gonna be a chef!’ One conversation can change the trajectory of your life.”
In 2005, Ferguson moved to Louisville to attend culinary school at Sullivan University. But his experience there was a struggle at first. He couldn’t get anyone to cosign a loan, so he had to work during the day and go to night school with much older adults. Ferguson thrived in the labs, though. After about six months, he was able to attend daytime classes and was selected to cook for Team USA at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Following the popularity of the online cooking classes he offered and his work as a breakfast cook at Proof on Main, it was time for Ferguson to strike out on his own and begin building what is now an impressive and thriving restaurant portfolio. “When I saw the menu prices at Proof, I knew I could do it myself.” In 2012, the SuperChef empire began with pop-ups in a small gyro restaurant. But simultaneously, Ferguson was going through an existential crisis. “I was getting concerned with who I am going to be instead of what am I going to be.”
Ferguson had overcome both homelessness and incarceration on his journey, and he hadn’t fully dealt with that until he began attending Southeast Christian Church. “When situations change, you should change. I didn’t have to be angry anymore. I could be myself. I never imagined how the pop-ups would then explode through our guerrilla marketing. We prepped and cooked all day and put flyers on cars at night. We never slept. We were so excited. Through three years of pop-ups, our mission was to ‘be great now.’ That consistency and belief made the difference, even though the pop-up locations and settings were not always ideal.”
His restaurant mentor Larry Goss believed in Ferguson and helped him with better locations to serve the sold-out five-course dinners. He also reiterated to Ferguson that it wasn’t all about his craft but about who he was. Ferguson and childhood friend Ryan Bryson opened the daytime breakfast spot SuperChefs in Louisville in 2015, featuring their “Urban Eclectic” cuisine style, blending traditional flavors in nontraditional ways with a creative presentation.
After a devastating fire just a few months into operation, celebrity chefs and television producers swooped in, offering to help Ferguson share his story. Through those media appearances and opportunities, he was able to reopen SuperChefs and start giving back to the community. Ferguson’s restaurant holdings have since expanded to The Haunted House Restaurant in
Photo by Danny Alexander
Cleveland Heights, Ohio, Superhero Chefs in Hunstville and Tuscumbia, Alabama, SuperChefs Express in the University of Louisville Student Activity Center, and Tha Drippin Crab in Louisville’s Russell neighborhood. He spends time with his wife and their eight children at their home in Alabama.
As his restaurant endeavors have grown, so has Ferguson’s burgeoning television career. Following an appearance on Guy’s Grocery Games, Rachael Ray, Steve Harvey, and Ellen Degeneres all came calling for an exclusive story with Ferguson. Figuring Rachael Ray could deliver the Food Network sort of audience Ferguson was seeking, he chose her show and was surprised with an appearance by his inspiration, Emeril Lagasse. Ferguson has also appeared on Beat Bobby Flay and various programs on Cooking Channel, Travel Channel, and Christian Broadcasting Network. In 2018, he won the Ultimate Thanksgiving Challenge hosted by Giada De Laurentiis. As the lowest seed in Guy Fieri’s first season of Tournament of Champions, Ferguson defeated top seed and Iron Chef Alex Guarnaschelli. He was a 4-seed in the second season and entered the show’s most recent third season as a number-one seed.
His own cooking show one day will feature everyday ingredients. “I want to present a style of food that is relatable to the masses but prepared in a way you’ve never seen before,” says Ferguson. “I want to become the face of a network, a face like no one’s ever seen. And I want to reach back and shine a light on others.”
Ferguson firmly believes cooking is also about feeding, and he plans to help stop hunger by building relationships with brands and companies. “I will perfect these strategies in Louisville, then spread them to other cities and around the world.” Ferguson’s SuperChefs Academy will be an opportunity to expose young chefs from the inner city to “possibilities, experiences, and motivation.” According to Ferguson, “Who you think you are is most important. Focus on character more than career, and the career will take care of itself. How did I make it out? It’s that belief.”
Visit iamsuperchef.com and follow @superchef_23 on Instagram.
ANNOUNCING EXPANSION TO ELIZABETHTOWN, FORT KNOX & REDCLIFFE AREAS COVERED BY OUR NEWEST AGENT STACY HARRIS!
RESIDENTIAL | COMMERCIAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT | RENTALS REAL ESTATE INVESTING BECOME A NOIR REALTY AGENT!
STACY HARRIS Kentucky Realtor 270-401-3064 Stacy@Noir-Realty.com
TAMIKA JACKSON Principal Broker & Co-Owner 502-592-4358 Tamika@Noir-Realty.com
JOHN HOWARD SHAW-WOO FOUNDER & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
NOIR BLACK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE INC. “Moving Black America Forward” A Certified Community Development Entity (CDE)
THE KENTUCKY CDE CDFI PARTNERSHIP “A Kentucky Economic Development Initiative” 1-844-NOIRBCC (664-7222) | 502-599-5299 MOBILE JOHN@NOIRBCC.ORG | WWW.NOIRBCC.ORG
National Initiative Launched in Kentucky
NOIR BLACK BUSINESS CLUBS FOR BLACK STUDENTS AGES 9 TO 24! BLACK STUDENTS AGES 9 TO 24!
“Moving Black America Forward Through Business Education and Professional Skills Business Education and Professional Skills Learning Earlier” Learning Earlier” Through
FREE STUDENT PARTICIPATION & REGISTRATION! & REGISTRATION! SEEKING PROFESSIONAL SEEKING PROFESSIONAL BLACK MENTORS! BLACK MENTORS!
